When I tried to open an account with a credit union I was told credit reference agency, Equifax, couldn't verify I was on the electoral register. Equifax believes that my surname is not valid; that it is "improperly formatted" because only the last of its three parts has a capital letter, and there are no hyphens.

If I were to write it differently it would then differ from official records and the credit agency would still say I'm not on the electoral register. Are all of us with non-standard non-English surnames condemned to some limbo in the eyes of this (and other?) credit agencies? JvdB, London

This reminds me of an Indonesian reader who was barred from booking a flight because her surname was too long. Thanks to you, Equifax has identified a "technical issue with the formatting of some names" (which must have excluded many of the UK's Dutch population) and is working on it. It has, meanwhile, posted you a copy of your credit report. The credit union's search was, according to Equifax, unsuccessful because, when you registered on your electoral roll, you opted out of your data being used for identity verification and direct marketing.

If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number.